TEXTUAL ANALYSIS LORD OF THE RINGS: BATTLE OF HELMSDEEP

CAMERA WORK

• A variety of subjective and objective filming is used to both place the audience in the battle scene with subjective hand held camera movements offering them gratifications of excitement and vicarious danger, whilst objective long shots signal the scale of the battle and the amount of action on offer to the audience

• Slow tracking movement across the character’s face signify both the scale of the battle, and the emotions on the faces of both sides. The slow track allows builds up the audience’s anticipation for the battle which is about to commence

• Extreme long shot (ELS) of the location signifies the scale of the event and suggests there is going to be action on a grand scale. This piece of objective filming also sets the scene for the audience and positions them in a desolate and dangerous location

• Close up shot used to highlight the emotions on the characters who are inside the castle and signify their vulnerability and fear at the battle which is about to commence, this encourages the audience to care about their safety and invest in the impending battle

• CU shot also highlights the determinism of the protagonist warriors as they prepare for battle, this suggests the action is going to be intense and gratifying for the audience

• High angled shot is used to add comedy within the scene to signify the (lack of) height of the dwarf, this offers the audience some light relief from the tension

• Low angle shots are used to enhance the power and status of the soldiers preparing for the battle

• A canted angle is used during the fight scene when a close up shot of one of the ‘monster’ antagonists are engaging in battle, this has a connotative effect of demonising the character further and representing the chaos of the battle scene

• The shot composition follows the rule of thirds when focusing on the lead protagonists this visually symbolises their status and power in the scene

• A low angle is used when the ladders are erected to signify the scale of the battle and the obstacles which the warriors have to face

SOUND

• Lack of non-diegetic sound used at the start to amplify the thunder and lightening in the scene, highlights the pathetic fallacy in the scene which in turn communicates a sense of danger and foreboding to the audience

• The rhythmic drum beat is played in the back ground signaling the approach of the army, and danger for the people in the castle. The drumbeat signifies the build in pace of the audience, and characters’, heartbeats as the action draws closer, engaging the audience into the text

• Slow string orchestral non-diegetic sound is introduced to signal the calm before the storm, and build the audience’s sense of impending danger

• The antagonists’ growls and grunts are amplified to signify their non-human qualities and represent them as grotesque beast like creatures, which the audience are encouraged to fear, thus accentuating the fear of what is to come

• When the first arrow is fired, all the non-diegetic sound is stopped to signify the importance of the action and amplifies the drama of the scene. The audience feel as though they are holding their breath in anticipation of what is to come

• The diegetic sounds builds to a crescendo, with multi-layered sound of brass on top of strings, as the one of the lead protagonists announces ‘so it begins’, this signifies the start of the battle to the audience

EDITING• Cross cutting between the antagonists and protagonists and

the potential victims in the castle signify to the audience the power structure and the reason for the battle; by cutting to the vulnerable characters inside the castle the audience fear for their safety and invest in the battle scene

• The shot length is longer at the start of the scene with shots averaging 3-5secs this builds the tension and intensifies the drama in the scene

• As the action develops the shots shorten in length to 1sec this creates a sense of action and excitement in the clip as the audience are bombarded with visuals to add to the adrenaline rush of the action sequence

• Continuity editing is used throughout to structure the narrative and engage the audience in the action

MISE-EN-SCENE• A colour filter is used to signify the binary oppositions of good

and evil; inside the castle the shots of the victims have a gold hue which signifies they are good, in contrast the warriors outside have a blue hue which signifies they are in the environment of evil

• A variety of weapons are shown as genre signifiers to suggest there will be plenty of action and violence and death by different weapons

• The location is a remote grand castle which signifies the grandeur of the situation

• The women, children and elderly are used to signify the potential victims, the producers are using common stereotypes here to communicate with the audience

• The women and children are encoded with blond hair a common signifier of purity and innocence

• All of the warriors are male reinforcing gender stereotypes

• The antagonist ‘monsters’ are encoded with sharp teeth, hidden faces and heavy armour signifying their non-human status and danger, this is further accentuated by the steam coming out of their mouths as they breath

• One of the characters has an eye missing suggesting he has been involved in battle before, and that there might be potentially gory scenes to come

• The weather is used to add drama to the scene, as well as hiding the identities of the monster characters, this also adds to the danger as the characters have poor visibility

• The protagonists are elevated above the antagonists connotating their superior status

• CGI (computer generated images) are used to create a large army of monsters to ad to the scale of the drama and offer audiences action on an epic scale